Grounded 2 Exists Because Obsidian Was ‘Running Out of Room’ in Grounded 1

In the upcoming Obsidian crippled Grounded 2, a crippled astir a radical of teenagers being shrunk down to bug size successful a elephantine park, 1 of the premier features that’s caller successful the sequel is the quality to equine a bug similar a horsey and thrust it around. It’s a diagnostic petition the assemblage has been making for a agelong time, and 1 that Obsidian has been precise keen to honor.

And it’s besides 1 of the main reasons that Obsidian is making Grounded 2 successful the archetypal place. Put simply, Grounded 1 couldn’t grip mountable bugs…or truly overmuch successful the mode of caller contented astatine each by the clip it was finished. Obsidian wanted to marque its crippled astir becoming precise small…bigger. Much bigger. And a determination to Unreal Engine 5 helped marque it possible, helium says.

“There's a fistful of antithetic reasons, but I'll absorption successful connected a fewer of them,” answers enforcement shaper Marcus Morgan, erstwhile asked wherefore Obsidian made a sequel alternatively of conscionable continually updating Grounded 1. “Thing fig 1 was, we started Grounded 1 connected the archetypal Xbox One. And we were moving retired of country to really physically get things into the game. And truthful if we wanted to adhd immoderate much content, we really would've had a hard load to grow the game. And that ruined the conception of being truly immersed and truly being successful this continuous space.”

Morgan goes on, pointing retired that the squad had told a implicit communicative successful Grounded 1 – beginning, middle, and extremity – and wanted to bash a abstracted implicit communicative successful sequel form. But finally, determination were the bug mounts, oregon “Buggies” arsenic Obsidian playfully calls them.

“We had already prototyped retired making aggregate creatures successful Grounded 1, the situation was though we didn't plan each of the spaces to lucifer that caller benignant of play. You alteration the velocity of traversal, you person to dispersed retired your region betwixt [points of interest], however you grip implicit lands, however you grip interior spaces, however you grip biology hazards. All that worldly wasn't truly thought through, truthful we needed to physique a full caller abstraction to truly fto those things land, that's wherefore the game's truthful overmuch bigger.”

Obsidian isn’t making Grounded 2 alone. The squad is partnering with the developer down Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Eidos Montreal, for co-development. It's a concern which Morgan praises highly for however good the teams person worked together, and describes arsenic co-development “in the truest sense.” He explains that Obsidian initially reached retired to Xbox’s cardinal squad to inquire for assistance uncovering a workplace spouse for Grounded 2, but it was the second-party partnerships radical who responded and suggested Obsidian talk with Eidos. Turns out, the workplace had a batch of large Grounded fans connected committee – capable that it was the Eidos squad who selected and refined the premise for Grounded 2’s communicative and antagonists. That was capable to merchantability Morgan and his colleagues connected Eidos arsenic a co-development partner. [And no, Morgan does not deliberation Obsidian and Grounded specifically are lasting successful the mode of a caller Deux Ex game.]

Currently, Grounded 2 is planned for aboriginal entree motorboat connected Xbox and PC – nary PlayStation oregon Nintendo Switch oregon Nintendo Switch 2, adjacent though its predecessor yet made it onto the erstwhile 2 platforms. That doesn’t mean the doorway is closed forever, though.

“I volition accidental that I'm so, truthful blessed for Grounded 1 that we were capable to spell connected each those platforms,” Morgan says. “At the extremity of the day, we person a small tagline of thrust together, past together. This crippled to maine is astir playing unneurotic with your friends nary substance wherever they play. And truthful our extremity ever is to scope arsenic galore players arsenic possible. We'll commencement disconnected with this, we'll spot wherever it goes successful the future.”

Morgan truly can’t talk successful a steadfast mode astir immoderate plans for the aboriginal of Grounded 2, but helium does suggest the thought from Obsidian is to bash thing akin to what was done for Grounded 1: a mates of years of aboriginal access, past a 1.0 release. And then, who knows? But helium adds that the squad doesn’t “put immoderate hard and accelerated constraints connected that due to the fact that determination is simply a precise sincere committedness to the aboriginal entree process of putting contented retired there, seeing however radical respond to it, iterating connected that and gathering from it.”

“And so, what I would accidental is I decidedly spot Grounded 2 arsenic being, it's acceptable up to beryllium overmuch much expandable than possibly we had initially laid retired Grounded 1 for, but we request to spot however it goes successful presumption of whether oregon not we enactment a headdress connected oregon not,” helium continues. “In presumption of what we bash for aboriginal contented and beyond, that'll truly beryllium dictated by what players bash and past assuming if backend and tech tin inactive clasp and support america successful the future, but we would instrumentality with that too. But we'll play that retired arsenic we enactment with the assemblage done it.”

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].